Process and apparatus for producing mineral wool



March 29, 1938. I w. cQANTLER 5 PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING MINERAL WOOL Filed Nov. 6., 1955 rllllllllln'rnln.

k Yllllllll 3nnentor (Ittornegs 35 nant features of-my invention; i

- Fig. 2, a perspective view of the blowing nozzle Patented 29, 1938 PATENT OFFICE,

. P B OCESS AND APPARATUS FOR PBODUO- ING MINERAL WOOL Lewis Willard Chantler, Charles Town, w. Va.,

'assignor to The Standard Lime and Stone Company, Baltimore, Md., a corporation of Mary- UNITED STATES} land Application November 6, 1935, Serial No. 48,574 i 5 Claims. (01. 49-775) This invention pertains to an improved apparatus for and method of blowing mineral wool. Such wool, as is well understood by, those skilled in the art, is produced by directing a blast of 5 fluid under pressure against a stream of molten scoria. The fluid medium may be steam or air and the scoria may have as its source various' materials, such as rock of suitable character, slag,

etc. Hereinafter, the material produced will be I referred to as mineral wool, the term being employed in its broadest sense.

The present invention has for its object two main purposes, which in a sense and to a certaindegree are interrelated, to wit, to-thoroughly and i5 evenly impregnate the wool and to provide means.

whereby the blast which blows the wool and likewise carries the impregnating material -therewith may be changed in direction to ensure prop- ,er impingement with the scoria stream.

As a further object, the invention provides means whereby as the direction of the blast is changed to maintain it in proper relation to the scoria stream, the conduits or means through or,

bywhich the treating material issupplied, also tion, so that once therelativerelation between the blast stream and the outlet'or outlets forv the treating material is fixed, they so remainunder all adjustments of the blowing nozzle. r a

30 A simple embodiment of the apparatus whereby the method may be eifected is disclosed in the annexed drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the lower portion of a cupola or furnace and the appurte mounting; V

Fig. 3, a face view of the blowing non ale of my invention; and

'40 Fig. 4, a detail sectional view of the nozzle and In actual practice, the stream does not always fflow downwardly in the same, path, this due primarily to the possible slight hardening thereof n at on ol'iflnoflm' D if e opening through gsaddle 2.3 adjustable as to-height to the under. 85

moves to the same extent andin the same direcrod producing an opening of the desired and requisite size from which a stream of scoria ll flows.

which it flows. Change in consistency of the scoria also tends to vary the path of flow.-

The blowing nozzle is denoted by i5 and is shown as a hollow member having a series of small openings IS in its forward face, said open- 5 ings in communication with the interior of the nozzle and receiving air or steam under pressure from a branch pipe" connected to an adjustable main supply pipe hereinafter Set forth in detail. I

The openings are preferably arranged in the form of a V with thelower elemen thereof arranged in substantially circular series instead of in true convergence as at' the bottom of an or dinary V. 15 An opening i8 is likewise formed in the face of ,the nozzle or blowing head, said opening being surrounded by and equally spaced from the circularly arranged openingsi 6 at the bottom of the series. Saidopening is in direct communication with a conduit is which inE-turn is connected' to a pipe 2i leading to a source of so-called treating material, such as starch, sodium silicate or ,any of the well known materials commonly employed in theart to impart coherence to the blown wool hbers. Nopress ure need be applied upon the material passing through pipe II as such material is sucked out and carried forward by the air or steam jets passing from the openings [8 located adjacent the outer end of opening, i8 and carried into the scoria by such jets,

' Overlying the nozzle i5 is a relatively small pipe 22, the outer end whereof is practically flush with the flat forward face of nozzle l5,

the opposite end being connected with an oil re;- 5 'ervoir (not shown) which effects 'a gravity feed of oil which ultimately trickles or flows down over thenozzle face until it is picked up and carried forward by the minute streams of fluid under pressure passing from the openings l8; 40 i As above indicated, means is provided for ad- Justing the blowing nozzle 15 with reference to the scoria stream and to that-end the mechanism best shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or its equivalent, is employed measure the blast contacting and, in

a sense, surrounding the scoria stream ll.- Said stream in practice has a tendency to flow from one or the other side of the opening, this seemingly because of the chilling of the scoria and unless the blast is properly related thereto, the wool produced will not be uniform and excessive bead formation takes place. v

Pipe I! which at its forward end carries the nozzles II freely rests adjacent saidend in a face whereof is attached a nut 24. A threadedshaft 2! passes through and engages'the nut 24, the shaft at one end being supported by a bracket 26 secured to the supporting framework ll of the cupola. At the other end, the shaft passes through a suitable bearing 28 detachably attached to a hanger 29 extending downwardly from the framework 21. A crank II is secured to the shaft in order that it may be rotated to cause the traveller nut 24 to be moved in one or the other direction or longitudinally of the shaft.-

As the nut is moved,'saddle 23 is traversed along shaft 25 and as a consequence pipe I1 is swung laterally to bring nozzle ii to the reqiusite position with reference to the scoria stream which for best results should fall within the V arrangement of the openings I.

To permit the nozzle I! to be swung laterally, the rear end of pipe i1 is connected to a cross pipe 32, one end whereof is closed as by a cap 33,

while the other is connected by a pipe 34 with a source of air or steam under pressure, a flexible connection (not shown) being employed to admit of free adjustment of the pipe-32 and its at-' ets I! and ll, the latter having a bearing element 4! attached theretcand in which the shaft ll moves. Adjacent its rear end," the shaft 38 has mounted thereon a shipper plate or arm ll,

the upperbifurcated end whereof engages the pipe I! and as 'the shaft 8' isrotated, as by movement of a'crank 44 attached to the shaft, the

member 43 is moved forwardly or ba'ckwardly and,

'partsmaybereadilydisassembledifneed-be merely by lifting the pipe from the saddle and disengaging the pipe 82 from the shipper 43.

The bracket ,which is secured to the frame- /work 21 extends downwardly to such position as to bring the cranks 3i and ll relatively close to each other, whereby the attendant of the. blowing apparatus may readily rotate one or the other -of the shafts as or a without changing his posla wall or face of a blowing or settling 7 1mm of October 9, 1917), tends in Oil the,

chamber-(not shown).

In operation, oil passing from thepipe 22 wends its way downwardly over "the rearwardly inclined face of the. member II and is picked up and car- 'ried forward by the jets, primarily those in the upperportion oftheseries. ThisoiLasisweli known in the art, (see the Patent to FayNo.

with the wool which is being blown or has been blown and has been oiled. There is no primary admixing of the oil with the stiffening material,

'nor any solution of one in the other.

As'will be appreciated, the apparatus is at once simple and yet withal has been found efiective in actual operation. As stated at the outset, the binding material may take various forms well known in the art, such as bituminous, resinous substances, silica of soda, glue, dextrine, etc.

Thecharacter of the binding. material will, to a certain extent, depend upon the use to which the material is to'be put. I

Seemingly, by using the fine openings as I, there is formed a series of jets which tend to break up and difluse the oil as well as the binding material and to protect the same from being burned by the scoria, inasmuch as the materials introduced are in effect surrounded by the steam at least for a period sufficiently long to prevent them from being destroyed to such an extent'at least as to inhibit their functional action upon By mounting the nozzle II in the manner above set forth, it may be said to have a universal adjustment. It may be moved through any line or are which is desirable or necessary to bring the jets into proper relation to the scoria stream, with a-view of obtaining the best results.

What is claimed is: 1. That method bf blowing mineral wool, which consists in projecting a stream of fluid under pressureinaseriesofjets againstastreamof molten material, permitting oil to pass downwardly to said jets at the zone of their inception to be picked up and carried forwardly thereby, and presenting a liquid stiffening material to the efiective suction action of some of the jets at 3. In combination with a cupola, a blowing nozzle standing adjacent an opening formed in said cupola from which a stream of molten material may flow; a pipe extending rearwardly from said nozzle; asupport for the rear end of said pipe, said support comprising brackets and a transversely extending pipe connected to the rearend of the first namedpipe, said transversely extending pipe resting upon and movable over said brackets; a shipper embracing said transversely extending Pip a screw threaded shaft for ad.-

justing said shipper and thereby moving the pipes forwardly and 'backwardly with reference to the stream aforesaid; asaddle-standing beneath themethod of blowing mineral wool, which forward portion of the first named pipe and 1 forming a support therefor; and a threaded shaft passing through a threaded portion of said saddle whereby by rotation of said last named shaft the nozzle may be swung laterally in either direction.

4. A structure as set forth in claim 3, wherein means is provided for raising and lowering the saddle with reference to the shaft.

5. In combination with a cupola, a blowing nozzle standing adjacent an opening formed therein from which a stream of molten material may flow; a pipe extending rearwardly from said nozzle and through which fluidunder pressure is conveyed to the nozzle; a support for the rear portion of said pipe; means for adjusting said pipe upon the support to move the nozzle bodily in an axial direction toward and from the stream of molten material; and means for shifting the nozzle laterally with reference to said stream, said means comprising a saddle in which the nozzle supporting pipe rests and is free to move longitudinally together with means for moving the saddle laterally.

LEWIS WILLARD CHAN'I'LER. 

